Apple might be the world’s largest company by market capitalization, but its alleged plans to launch a smart wristwatch don’t worry luxury watch makers a bit. At the annual Baselworld expo dedicated to watches and jewelry watchmakers laughed off the possibility of an Apple iWatch being a threat to a business where they sell $65 000 platinum watches.

That sentiment is not new for Apple, though. Long established phone makers met its iPhone with laughter denouncing its absurdity, and they couldn’t have been more wrong. The same happened with the iPad.

It’s hard to judge whether Apple would be successful with a product it hasn’t even announced yet, but one thing is certain - going on an uphill battle is what Cupertino loves most.

So you're saying that Canon and Nikon are not using new tech? Just to let you know, Canon and Nikon are easily the best camera makers in the world. They have always been, they are and they always will be.

have you ever worn a premium watch?
you might think your status gets upgraded by having an iphone but wear a Rolex and go to enter at a club.
a plastic toy or even aluminum cannot be compared to hand crafted premium material (gold, titanium etc).
they are right at laughing cause cause it will never happen that Apple to take a chunk off of their business.

I agree with you, but some companies try to merge premium materials with electronic devices like smartphones(Vertu) and for me they have failed. I would rather use a non-luxury device that helps me and entertains me, than a luxury phone. That's my humble opinion.

they are and it's evident from the statement...sony, pebble and motorola introduced their smart watches last year and no such statement came..Ballmer said something similar about the iPhone and many said that iPad was a flop! As far as symbol is concerned, if there can be a gold iPhone, then i wont be surprised to see a gold iwatch
You never know whats gonna happen and if iwatch is unique and different, it is possible that these watches might see a drop in sales but they will never fade away!

Many days ago Nokia said the same thing to android and iPhone now you can clearly look at their position...so never ever underestimate your opponents...who knows these watches may come with many functionalities and may be hit with the masses....

Battery is the main concern, and thats what Pebble from Kickstarter got right. They use e-ink for the screen, and in the end is just a watch with messaging capabilities... We probably do not need color screen for it. Waterproof, bluetooth integration (specially with Android). I will probably get the 2nd Generation of this series.

If apple pulls something with those features in mind, it will be a success... people already shows it with the former iPod Nano

The Swiss watchmakers did this once before when they "laughed-off" the new tech of quartz movements. That mistake almost entirely killed off the Swiss watch industry. While new watch technology is not yet the rage, the Swiss should be a bit less arrogant, and a lot more observant.

That's exactly what they said about quartz movements. Did it completely kill the Swiss watch industry? No. However, it had a HUGE impact. Will it kill the high end watch market? No. But more and more younger people will buy tech. It could do more harm by shrinking an already relatively small market.

A bespoke wristwatch/pocketwatch is a jewelery that, incidentally, shows the time too.
A man doesn't buy a watch because he needs to know the time but because it's the only jewelry (besides wedding ring) a man can wear; the more money you have, the nicer the watch will be.
I wear suits every day so I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a quartz (not even an Omega) let alone an iwatch. But my friends that wear jeans - that don't own watches, don't need them, don't want to spend money on them - may be persuaded to buy a gimmicky thing like this wrist-devices.
So everyone gets a place in the market.
Trust me: iwatch, pebble or whatever this devices are to be be called, will never-ever-ever-ever replace a beautiful Zenith or Longines, let alone a few hundred thousand euro Vacheron or Pateck (whos owners uses Vertu).

iWatch will be successful in that non-watch consumers will delve into a product that they never invested in before. iWatch won't be a threat to the swiss watch industry because people buying the latest tech gadget aren't necessarily in the same pool of people buying highly engineered time pieces.

How about the achievement of mechanical engineering? The ability to accurately measure time and date as well as other features without winding or the assistance of any network signals, quartz chips or other electronic means must count for something.

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